


Making Murder

by Brachylagus_fandom



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: 25th Hunger Games, Arena Design, Meta, Quarter Quell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-06 22:01:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10345452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brachylagus_fandom/pseuds/Brachylagus_fandom
Summary: How do you create the first Quarter Quell? With paperwork, of course.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Morbane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morbane/gifts).



**Arena Design - Long Form - 25th Annual Hunger Games**

Arena Details: the arena shell is located in the Western Uninhabitable Zone, Area 1. The interior arena is bowl-shaped with a functional terrain area of roughly 350-500 square miles depending on terrain features implemented. Catacombs are concentrated on the southern side and 25% taller than average.

Gamemaker(s): Victoria Hardhome (14th*, 15th, 17th, 18th, 20th)

*Co-Gamemaker; first arena done with Casca Crane (14th, 16th, 19th, slated for 26th).

Gamemaker Crane will act as a Secondary Gamemaker handling Ecology, his specialty. Gamemaker Trinket has already been selected by President Hale to manage Public Relations.

Arena Layout/Terrain: Labyrinth

The arena will be structured like a radial maze with the Cornucopia in the center. A second layer with a limited number of entrances and exits will be added above the first. Movable walls and trapdoors can reduce the arena's area as the number of tributes shrinks.

In addition to the Cornucopia, supplies will be cached at undisclosed points inside of the maze. However, there will also be traps of varying lethalities at various locations. Supplies in the Cornucopia and elsewhere will include food, water, weapons (assorted knives, dart guns, spears, maces, etc.), and potentially supplies to set traps of one's own and/or escape the arena's and other tribute's traps unharmed (wire, explosives, electrical equipment, poison, antidotes, gas masks, armor, etc.). Maps of the arena will either be strictly prohibited or found only in the most dangerous areas.

Food and (clean) water will be the main scarce resources. Vegetation will be extremely sparse and potentially inedible, and fauna will be dangerous. Water will come from dripping pipes/rock ceilings, pools, and small, fast-moving streams. Some or all of the water sources may be contaminated with biological and/or chemical agents as the Gamemaking Council sees fit.

Mechanics Required: The extra catacomb space above and below the arena will be used to house machinery to move the maze walls. The tunnel variation on parachute delivery will have to be implemented if the proposed upper maze layer is added or potentially regardless due to low ceiling height. Muttation and trap movement will be accomplished via the typical underground movement system run by Avoxes.

Muttations Required: The muttations involved will be rats (new) and assorted Beast Types. The rats will be unusually large, likely 1-2 feet in length. Their teeth and claws will be unusually sharp. They will exhibit mob tactics and be viciously carnivorous. Venomous bites are optional but potentially amusing.

Anticipated Schedule:

_NOTE: The Official Personnel Reallocation Periods are June 10 - July 30 (ending may be deferred due to long games; begins on June 5 for Games Officers) and December 10-30 (Public Relations Department only). Do not assume non-personal work will be done during these periods._

Arena Design (Longform) Submission Deadline - December 31, 21 PP  
-Approval/Resubmission Request - no later than January 30, 22 PP  
   -Resubmission Deadline - March 15, 22 PP

Arena Shell Construction complete - May 31, 22 PP

Preliminary Schematics Deadline - July 31, 22 PP  
-Schematics Critiques Given - no later than September 30, PP  
_NOTE: If a Gamemaker so wishes, schematics can be critiqued multiple times before the Finalized Schematics deadline by two other Gamemakers._

Finalized Schematics Deadline - July 31, 23 PP

Muttations Work begins - August 15, 23 PP (provisional)  
-under direction of Gamemaker Crane  
-focusing on rats

Mechanics Work begins - January 1, 24 PP  
-Wall/trap-moving mechanisms

Catacomb Assembly begins - August 1, 24 PP (provisional)  
-may be pushed back depending on 24th Annual Hunger Games' length  
-delivery system, movement mechanisms

Arena Assembly begins - September 1, 24 PP (provisional)  
-dependent on Catacomb Assembly progress

Reading of the Card - January 10, 24 PP

Special Notices given - no later than January 15, 25 PP  
-primarily pertain to Gamemaker Trinket

Arena Functional - no later than June 10, 25 PP

25th Annual Reaping Day - June 15, 25 PP

Games Report Deadline - August 1, 25 PP

***

**Ecology Department - New Species - Application #251**

Name: Rodents of Abnormally Large Size (R.A.L.S.)

Designer: Casca Crane

Description: Quadrupedal mammal covered in black/dark brown fur. Total length varies from 20 to 28 inches, including a 6 to 8 inch tail. Average weight is 14 pounds (standard deviation of 5 ounces). Hands are hairless, and all 5 fingers are clawed. Excellent night vision.

Origins: Base is the common rat, _Rattus norvegicus_. Modifications for prehensile hands and carnivorous diet came from the Standard Mammal Modification Codex. Teeth modifications and obligate carnivore status written by the Enhanced Evolution Department under the supervision of Casca Crane. Pack behaviors seem to have arisen from these modifications naturally, likely due to the origins of the modifying DNA.

Special Qualities: Displays pack tactics in order to obtain food. Sharp teeth. Prehensile hands and tail. Obligate Carnivore. Mildly venomous bite - phospholipases and hemotoxins.

Usage: Hunger Games, initially first Quarter Quell. Clearing underground hideouts.

Handling: 4-C cages. Susceptible to G-class tranquilizers. Handle with caution - specialized Avox teams only.

***

 **Special Notices - 25th Annual Hunger Games**  
_from: President Tarquinius Hale_

Specialized Reaping: This year, all District citizens over the age of 11 will vote for their tributes on June 14, 25 PP. Participation is mandatory. On Reaping Day, their candidates will be revealed. No volunteering is allowed.

Known Tributes:

Districts 1, 2, and 4 will most likely be electing the Top Girl and Boy of their current Honor Classes.  
District 1: probably Sapphire Silversmith and Satin Jones  
District 2: probably Calpurnia Smith and Marcus Mason  
District 4: probably Persephone Fisher and Caspian Odair

District 8 Female: Calico Taylor

District 11 Female: Apple Hoffer

District 12 Male: Ash Hawthorne

Victor Possibilities: Under no circumstances should Miss Taylor, Miss Smith, or Mister Hawthorne win. No win for Districts 8, 10, 11, or 12 at all is preferred. Due to the arena, a District 3 or District 5 win seems highly likely. This is a probability to encourage.

***

**Games Report - 25th Annual Hunger Games**

Head Gamemaker: Victoria Hardhome

Games Officers: Ecology - Gamemaker Crane, Public Relations - Gamemaker Trinket, Tribute Management - Senior Games Officer Riverway, Environment - Games Officer Vale, Entertainment - Games Officer Anderson

Victor: Tesla Jefferson, District 3

Public Relations Analysis: Very Good

This year's primary Public Relations focus was to remind the District citizens what they have to lose if they rebel again' considering the recent strikes, uprisings, and dissent in 5 districts, it was a necessary goal. On that front, I believe these games succeeded magnificently.

The anguish caused by voting (including the rioting in District 8) was a very direct reminder of the Capitol's power over its citizens, especially after the voting reveals. The only trouble on this front were voting block efforts, particularly in the Career Districts but also in Districts 6, 10, and 12. If we need to sow dissent in any of the Districts, releasing the votes would be a good measure; hating the people who condemned your child seems natural, after all.

The message that the Districts' choices doomed them was carried over beautifully into the arena design; in Hardhome's intricate maze design, every choice could (and sometimes did) mean death. It also easily aided the third ever victory for Three.

Entertainment Analysis: Passable

This games relied too heavily on audience emotion and sympathy for its entertainment value. While some of the tributes' reactions to being elected were priceless (I particularly enjoyed the girl from Ten's tears as she was called up with her brother), others fell completely flat for the viewer. The palpable terror once in the maze, particularly from the younger tributes, added a key element to the trap scenes but led the Career pack's coverage to fall flat for me and many other viewers.

The fashion's quality varied wildly, as per usual. District 3's Tribute Parade costumes, where the tributes were dressed up as robots, were (for once) inspired, but most of the other districts were lacking. In particular, the stylists of Districts 2 and 4 seem to have lost their verve, as evidenced by their mediocre costuming. The interview outfits appear to be consistently overdone; there is more to formal wear than a black suit and long gown, people!

Also, please try to have not quite so many tributes cry during the interviews next year. One or two is fine, and it can set up a nice underdog narrative as it did for Tesla, but as a technique for winning sponsors via pity, it's very overdone. In particular, 12- or13-year-old girls need to aim more for "shy" than "pathetic".

Technical Analysis: Good

While one of the delivery tubes did jam, the mechanics worked more or less perfectly. The movable walls and traps went without any hitches save one Avox getting mauled by the R.A.L.S. No monitoring equipment experienced interference from the explosive and/or electrical traps.

Games Officer Vale's understanding of his field is tenuous at best. His inexperience and outright negligence almost ended in Miss Hoffer being crowned Victor. I would highly recommend he be stripped of rank and made to repeat Games Officer training, especially the Systems Operation and Entertainment sections.

Overall Rating: Success

_Congratulations on your successful games, Gamemaker Hardhome. We eagerly await your next arena._

**Author's Note:**

> In the novels, our calendar system and the US unit system are used. I find it kind of hilarious that the apocalypse has come and gone and the US still doesn't use metric units. Dates are my (internet-assisted) guesstimation.
> 
> Muttation (with that spelling) is the technical name used for mutts in the books.
> 
> In this, the Gamemakers are the people who design arenas. Each Gamemaker proposes a theme, and whoever made the selected theme is Head Gamemaker for and runs that Hunger Games. Games Officers are like department heads; they run specialized sections of the games under orders from the Head Gamemaker. Secondary Gamemakers act as Games officers but generally have more expertise.
> 
> R.A.L.S., of course, are based on R.O.U.S.s, the Rodents of Unusual Size from _The Princess Bride_. I regret nothing.


End file.
